The militarization of America

The militarization of America
The worst compromise ever for the United States was the one in which gays in the military were allowed to serve in brave silence. The other side of this compromise was the ability of retired government service, military, and other officials to go into civilian industrial corporate America immediately upon severance of service.
What this has done is provide for a strengthening of the military industrial complex whereby it has dominant control of our government and the civilian population. The social manipulation that has occurred in the last 4 decades, when the counter-culture movement imposed its will on how the Nixon administration prosecuted the Vietnam War and the subsequent withdrawal without victory, should be subject to investigation. Forty years ago we were on the verge of attempting to address all the social failures we are facing, again or still, now. The movement wanted to reduce pollution, reduce military intervention and the hegemony associated with that intervention, improve education, conserve resources, and limit the unfair influence of big business in the affairs of the populace.
The ever so grave danger (there is no other kind) is the type of leadership and management that results from militarism. Military leadership is not leadership by merit; it is leadership by rank authority, two distinct, but very important concepts to embrace. In the natural order of things knowledge, ability, experience, and charisma are what make natural leaders. By virtue of their innate skills and the recognition of ability by those they associate with in their chosen profession, the competent are able to climb the ladder of success and responsibility. What happens in the military is an unnatural selection process. What happens is that those that reflect the most light of those responsible for promoting them become higher ranking officers and enable the continuance of the inbred management culture of the military.
Americans have come to believe that military equals leadership. Patriotism was hijacked just for this purpose after 9/11. Our greatest strength is not the military it is the ideology that all men and women are created equal. Along with the liberties we enjoy as a free people. The republic founded by our forefathers was the culmination of centuries of rights earned by men reasoning with the forces that controlled them. The democracy we enjoy was not given to us by god, but earned by the efforts and labors of men that had tasted the opportunities that industriousness allows.
I observed, when working for the Navy, the culling of individuals that were different from the spectrum needed to feed the military’s future. There is a relatively narrow band width of light that reflects the most of what the military wants and needs. It is not by accident that they look the same, sound the same, and act like one another. The problem we face as a country is the controlling regimentation of our people, our jobs, and what it bodes for our future.
I believe in the military and my brothers and sisters that serve. That is why I spoke out against the invasion of Iraq. It was based on lies, it was not planned very well, and it was executed horribly. But it has succeeded in elevating the military establishment on the backs of the enlisted. There has always been contempt in the ranks for the leadership in the military, Willie and Joe would tell you so, the contempt comes from the knowledge that war and chaos go hand in hand and results cannot be predicted.